Female Young Offenders in Canada: Recent Trends

• NCJ Number: 177633
• Author(s): C A Dell; R Boe
• Date Published: 1997
• Length: 64 pages
• Corporate Author: Canada Correctional Service
• Sale Source: Canada Correctional Service
• Publication Format: Document
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: Canada

Annotation

This report presents data that show recent trends in the crime patterns and justice-system processing of female juvenile offenders in Canada.

Abstract

The data used to compile this report were obtained from the Uniform Crime Report Survey, the Youth Court Survey, and the Corrections Key Indicator Report. Most of the analyses pertain to trends over the past 5 years. The first issue examined was whether there has been an increase in the number of female youth charged by the police from 1992 through 1996. The data do not show any increase at the national level; there was a decrease in property crimes and a slight increase in drug, violent, and other offenses. A second issue addressed was whether there has been an increase in the number of female youth processed through the juvenile court system for the period 1991/92 through 1994/95. At the national level there has been a slight decrease; by offense category, there has been a decrease in property crimes and a slight increase in violent crimes. A third issue considered is whether female youth are getting involved in crime at a younger age. There is no indication that this is so at the national level. The fourth issue examined was whether female youth are getting more violent; data from the Uniform Crime Report Survey show that since 1993, the national rate of violent crime among female youth has remained constant at 44 per 10,000. The Youth Court Survey indicated that from 1991/92 to 1993/94 there was relative stability of homicide, attempted murder, abduction, sexual assault, and other sexual offenses. Other issues addressed were whether there has been an increase in the frequency of female youth remanded into custody pending disposition of a charge (tentative conclusions); whether female youth are getting more severe dispositions (a slight increase in secure custody and open custody); and whether there has been an increase in the number of female youth transferred to adult court (few females were transferred to adult court). 23 tables, 23 charts, and appended supplementary information